013. Yellow
Culprit
House limped into his office and came to a sudden stop, staring at the object on his desk. He looked around towards the conference room but it was remarkably empty at the moment. That fact didn't assuage his feelings of suspicion, it only increased them. It made him think that his ducklings had already been in this morning, seen what was on his desk and scattered to distant parts of the hospital as quickly as possible so as not to be here, and therefore be obvious cannon fodder, when he arrived. If they were actually responsible for the object on his desk they'd be sitting in the conference room, trying to look casual while surreptitiously watching for his reaction.
So that ruled out the ducklings…
He briefly considered Cuddy but threw the idea out almost instantly. For one, they really didn't have that kind of relationship, had never had that kind of relationship. Cuddy was the boss, he worked for her. He fought her, annoyed her and on occasion he actually managed to impress her…something which she always denied and which her teased her incessantly about. No, Cuddy would not have put that object on his desk.
So not the ducklings and not Cuddy…
Now Stacy…there was a candidate. Or she might have been at one time. Before. Before the infarction, before the surgery, before she left and before she married Mark. They'd often done stupid, amusing things like this before. Playing games. His eyes narrowed and his shook his head. No, not Stacy. Not now. The object could not have been left by her. They didn't play those sorts of games anymore.
Not the ducklings then, not Cuddy and not Stacy…which only left one culprit.
"Do you like it?"
The warm, amused voice from behind startled him and he gave a quick glance over his shoulder to find his vote for the culprit standing in the doorway.
"What is it?" House asked incredulously as he turned to look at the thing on his desk again.
Much to his surprise, Wilson walked up to him and stood directly behind him, wrapping one arm around his waist and resting his chin on his shoulder.
"I would have thought that was obvious," Wilson said into his ear, the warm amusement sending pleasant shivers down his spine.
"Why is it on my desk?"
He heard a low chuckle then gasped when Wilson bit his earlobe gently.
"For the sheer amusement value of watching you walk in and see it."
"You were out on the balcony?"
"For most of it," Wilson confirmed, his arm tightening slightly around House's waist. "But you were thinking too hard about it so I thought I'd come in and stop that."
"But…why did you buy it?"
Another chuckle echoed warmly through House's ear.
"Remember what we talked about the other night?" Wilson said. "About how I should be more spontaneous and we should have more fun? Well, consider this a step in the right direction."
House turned his head so that he could see Wilson's face.
"A rubber ducky?" he said incredulously.
The warmth in Wilson's face and eyes changed into something dark and heated and his voice was low when he said, "Baths can be fun."